Exactly two months ago, I wrote to the Public Editor of The New York Times concerning Roger Cohen's op-ed, "What Iran's Jews Say" (". . . the reality of Iranian civility toward Jews tells us more about Iran - its sophistication and culture - than all the inflammatory rhetoric"), and asked:
- In 'What Iran's Jews Say', as a matter of journalistic ethics, should Cohen have included in his op-ed all of the above facts, i.e. that his conversations were with a limited number of Jews, via a translator reporting to the Iranian Government, and that the persons he interviewed might have felt duress?
- Was the title of the op-ed appropriate, given the above?
- Are NYT op-eds subject to journalistic standards different from other reported stories?
I received the following response, dated March 20, 2009, from the Public Editor's office: "I am looking into this further, and doing some homework on the case right now. I also have Mr. Hoyt [The New York Times' Public Editor] looking into it, and I will report our findings to you as soon as they are ready."
Meanwhile, I have heard nothing back from the Public Editor or anyone else from The New York Times.
It is worth noting that in the guidelines promulgated by The New York Times in "Ethical Journalism, A Handbook of Practices for the News and Editorial Departments, September 2004", it is stated in section 15:
The Times treats its readers as fairly and as openly as possible. In print and online, we tell our readers the complete, unvarnished truth as best we can learn it. It is our policy to correct our errors, large and small, as soon as we become aware of them.
Dead-on yet again. I'm sure the Times did not respond in the end because their investigation ended with an obvious embarrassment. Of course what's even worse is all the comments which follow these nasty and painful pieces by Cohen. The man must have a terribly low opinion of his own to write the way he does.
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